Understanding Unified Messaging Users

With Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging (UM), users in an Exchange 2010 organization can receive all their e-mail and voice messages in one mailbox. The Unified Messaging functionality found in Exchange 2010 greatly increases user productivity and enables more flexible messaging throughout an organization.

When you're creating an Exchange 2010 recipient, you're given the option of creating a mailbox or connecting to an existing mailbox. After the mailbox is created for the user or the user is connected to an existing mailbox, you must enable the mailbox so that the user can use the Unified Messaging capabilities found in Exchange 2010. After the user is enabled for Unified Messaging, all e-mail and voice messages will be delivered to the user's Inbox. By using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Outlook Web App, a mobile phone enabled for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, or a regular or mobile telephone, users can access their e-mail, voice messages, and calendaring information.

By default, a user who has an Exchange 2010 mailbox isn't enabled for Unified Messaging. You must create a mailbox for the Exchange 2010 user before they can be enabled for Unified Messaging. After the user is enabled for Unified Messaging, you can manage, modify, and configure the UM properties for them.

Note:

To enable multiple UM users, use the Enable-UMMailbox cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell.

There are two locations in which UM properties are stored for a user: the Mailbox object and the user's Active Directory object. When you enable a user for Unified Messaging, you set the UM property on the user's Mailbox object. After the Mailbox property is set to enabled for Unified Messaging, the user can use the Unified Messaging features found in Exchange 2010.

After a user is enabled for Unified Messaging, their UM properties are stored in their properties and their mailbox. The user's UM properties, including their extension number, spoken name, and other properties, are stored in their properties in the Active Directory directory service.

You can manage UM properties for a UM-enabled user on the mailbox of the Exchange 2010 Unified Messaging user by using the Shell or the Exchange Management Console.

When you enable a user for Unified Messaging, the user must be associated with or linked to an existing UM mailbox policy, and you must provide their extension number. You can associate a user with a UM mailbox policy by using the Enable-UMMailbox cmdlet or by selecting the UM mailbox policy when you create the user's Exchange mailbox.

A UM mailbox policy contains settings such as the dialing restrictions and PIN policies for a user. When a UM mailbox policy is created, the UM mailbox policy must be associated with only one UM dial plan. The UM dial plan is then associated with at least one Unified Messaging server. Any Unified Messaging server associated with the UM dial plan can provide Unified Messaging services for a UM-enabled user who uses the UM dial plan. Associating these Active Directory objects in this manner delivers the Unified Messaging services by using Active Directory. After the user is enabled for Unified Messaging, the settings from a UM mailbox policy object are applied to the UM-enabled user.

Note:

In a circuit-switched telephony environment, the user's telephone must be programmed in the Private Branch eXchange (PBX) to forward busy or unanswered calls to a UM IP gateway associated with the user's dial plan.

When you enable a user for Unified Messaging, you must define at least one extension number that Unified Messaging will use when voice mail is submitted to the user's Exchange 2010 mailbox. After you enable the user for Unified Messaging, you can add extension numbers to the user's mailbox, or modify or remove them by configuring the Exchange Unified Messaging proxy address (EUM proxy address) on the user's mailbox.

Note:

There's no limit to the number of secondary extension numbers that you can add for a UM-enabled user.

The mailbox of a UM-enabled user can be associated with only one UM dial plan. However, the mailbox of a UM-enabled user can be assigned the following:

A single extension number, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address, or E.164 address on a single dial plan.

Multiple extension numbers, SIP addresses, or E.164 addresses on a single dial plan.

For example, a UM-enabled user travels frequently from New York to Tokyo. The user's mailbox is associated with the New York dial plan and a single extension number is configured on the user's mailbox. A second extension number is configured on the user's mailbox for the Tokyo dial plan. When callers dial either extension number and leave a voice message for the user, the voice message will be delivered to the same UM-enabled mailbox.

When you disable Unified Messaging for a user, the user's account may still be listed when a caller performs a directory search using a UM auto attendant menu or using Outlook Voice Access. Callers may be able to locate a user in the directory, but when they try to contact the user, they're taken back to the main menu in Unified Messaging. This may cause callers to become frustrated with the system. You can prevent callers from using a directory search to contact a user who's been disabled for Unified Messaging by connecting the user to another voice mail system, removing the user from the UM auto attendant directory search, or removing the user's account from Active Directory.

After a UM-enabled user account is disabled for Unified Messaging, the user may still have access to the individual UM-enabled mailbox using Outlook Voice Access or Microsoft Outlook. This can occur when all domain controllers in Active Directory haven't fully replicated all changes to objects to the Active Directory database. To lessen the risk of a user gaining access to the mailbox even though the account has been disabled for Unified Messaging, you can manually force Active Directory replication to occur or remove all Unified Messaging information from the user's mailbox when the user is disabled for Unified Messaging.